Living with Diabetes...

with Dr. Tia Rains

You can have your muffin and eat it too...

My 94-year old grandmother has eaten three square meals a day her whole life: a large breakfast, followed by lunch, and finally supper in the evening – and generally nothing in between.  Ask 10 of your friends how they eat, and I suspect you’ll find very few follow my grandmother’s eating plan.       

Snacking between meals or eating a series of mini-meals has become a way of life for most of us.

Though some take the term “mini meals” to an extreme, snacking can be healthier if approached correctly.  New clinical research suggests snacking has numerous benefits:

• Sustained energy levels
• Hunger management, reducing extreme hunger that might lead to overeating at lunch or dinner
• In children and older adults, increased intakes of essential nutrients that are often missing from the diets of these groups (1)
• Easier maintenance of blood sugar levels for persons with diabetes (2)

The key to smart snacking is to stick with good nutrition: balance, variety, and moderation.  I emphasize moderation, because snacking benefits can be lost by consuming large portion sizes.  A snack should provide enough calories to tide you over until the next meal (about 100-300 calories for most people). 

What is the best snack?  That’s like asking my grandmother to pick her favorite grandchild (although I secretly think it is me).  As long as the overall diet is healthy, most of us can enjoy any food as a snack.  For example, a Greek salad with grilled chicken at lunch could be followed several hours later by something to satisfy your sweet tooth, such as a cookie...GUILT FREE!   

By building wholesome and healthy main meals, you have more freedom to enjoy all different types of foods as snacks, so long as portion sizes are reasonable.   In fact, some may find that including sweet snacks on a regular basis minimizes feelings of deprivation, making it easier to follow an overall healthy diet. 

Hill & Valley offers a number of delicious snack products, most less than 200 calories per serving, which can fit within a healthy diet. Plus they are not only great-tasting, but reduced in sugar, for those following a low-sugar lifestyle. 

Other Smart Snacking Tips:

• Talk to your registered dietitian, nurse, or physician about a nutrition plan that fits with your lifestyle and with any prescription medications you take.

• Planning your snacks early each day helps you to stick with your diet plan and avoid overeating. 


• For the office, pack snacks at home into single-servings so you can munch without overeating and avoid an impulse trip to the vending machine. 

• Keep a food diary to track your meals and snacks to ensure you have a diet that balances with your activity level.

• Include all food groups to get the important vitamins and minerals.
• Visit mypyramid.com to help guide you on food choices and reasonable portion sizes.

NOTE:  If you are a person with diabetes, please consult with your diabetes management team to develop a nutrition care plan that fits with your lifestyle requirements in order to balance food intake with insulin and other medications.

References: (1) Zizza CA et al. (2007) Benefits of snacking in older Americans. J Am Diet Assoc 107:806-807.
(2) Jenkins DJ et al. (1992) Metabolic advantages of spreading the nutrient load: effects of increased meal frequency in non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Am J Clin Nutr 55:461-467.